Streaming Analysis: A-Listers Join the Netflix Fray

Netflix has long been battling theater chains and major studios in the turf war for movie audiences. Now A-list directors and celebrities are entering the scrum.

After Roma‘s impressive performance at the Oscars Feb. 24, Hollywood has been dealing with the aftershocks of the streaming giant’s influence on the Academy and moviegoers at large. While it didn’t take the Best Picture trophy, Alfonso Cuarón’s black-and-white drama about a year in the life of a middle-class family’s maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s did win Best Foreign Film, along with Best Director and Best Cinematography for Cuarón.

In response, Steven Spielberg, the Academy Governor representing the directors branch, said he will propose an Academy rule that Netflix films be banned from Oscar contention altogether, instead allowing them to vie for Emmy consideration.

Spielberg was blunt in his criticism, saying streaming services threaten moviegoing altogether. “I don’t believe that films that are just given token qualifications, in a couple of theaters for less than a week, should qualify for the Academy Award nominations,” Spielberg told IndieWire. ““I hope all of us really continue to believe that the greatest contributions we can make as filmmakers is to give audiences the motion picture theatrical experience. I’m a firm believer that movie theaters need to be around forever.”

“I love television,” the director continued. “I love the opportunity. Some of the greatest writing being done today is for television, some of the best directing for television, some of the best performances [are] on television today. The sound is better in homes more than it ever has been in history. But there’s nothing like going to a big dark theater with people you’ve never met before and having the experience wash over you.”

Not everyone, though, agrees, Cuarón being chief among them. Before the Oscars, he told Variety, “There needs to be greater diversity in how we release our films. Distribution models need to be more flexible, depending on the film. You cannot impose the release strategy of a tentpole film on a smaller film.”

The issue has split the Hollywood community. Christopher Nolan told IndieWire he would not work with Netflix. The Dunkirk director, who often works with 70 mm film, disagrees with Netflix’s “day and date” release policy, which releases movies simultaneously in theaters and home video.

“They have this mindless policy of everything having to be simultaneously streamed and released, which is obviously an untenable model for theatrical presentation,” he said. “So they’re not even getting in the game, and I think they’re missing a huge opportunity.”

He noted that Amazon, which releases its movies in theaters before making them available on its platform, shouldn’t be lumped with Netflix for contributing to the issue. “You can see that Amazon is very clearly happy to not make that same mistake,” he said. “The theaters have a 90-day window. It’s a perfectly usable model. It’s terrific.”

Ben Affleck isn’t so sure. While on the interview circuit to promote his upcoming Netflix movie Triple Frontier, he told reporters “It’s very exciting, because you get the sense that you’re defining where the future of cinema and distribution is going, you know?’’

Affleck said that “already, people are watching movies on more and more platforms than they ever had, and you get a sense that you’re part of sort of this emerging transition. I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to look, there’s some controversy, people have different opinions, but it’s definitely also fun to be part of what Netflix is doing, because they’re heavily investing in telling stories. They want to push a lot of stuff out there, and there’s a thrill and a rush and excitement to that.’’

Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay, who previously worked with Netflix on her film 13th, took to social media to ask the Board of Governors not to bar Netflix from Oscar competition. The director, who included a clip from her upcoming Netflix series about the Central Park Five, tweeted: “One of the things I value about Netflix is that it distributes black work far/wide. 190 countries will get WHEN THEY SEE US. Here’s a promo for South Africa. I’ve had just one film distributed wide internationally. Not SELMA. Not WRINKLE. It was 13TH. By Netflix. That matters.”

Netflix offered a diplomatic tweet of its own. “We love cinema. Here are some things we also love:
-Access for people who can’t always afford, or live in towns without, theaters
-Letting everyone, everywhere enjoy releases at the same time
-Giving filmmakers more ways to share art
These things are not mutually exclusive.”

The Academy will hear Spielberg’s proposal at the Board of Governors meeting next month.

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Scott Bowles is a former critic at USA Today and staffer of People Magazine, The Washington Post, The Detroit News and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is a lecturer and head of the internship program at UCLA's Journalism Ext. Dept. He is the author of 'The Needle and the Damage Done' (non-fiction) and lead author of 'Crime on Deadline' (non-fiction).